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are visiting the Sustainable Appalachian Viticulture Institute (SAVI) website

Sustainable
Appalachian
Viticulture Institute (SAVI)Spanish Translation
Strong advocates for growing cold-hardy, native
grapes in Western North Carolina and the many phytochemicals
that are derived from them

SAVI Mission: To promote the research, development,
propagation and planting of cold-hardy and disease resistant
grape cultivars in vineyards in the Appalachian
Mountains using sustainable farming methods including organic
and biodynamic methods. SAVI will participate in the development
and implementation of training programs on all phases of
grape growth and propagation. Initially, the work will be
focused on the 23 mountain counties of Western North Carolina.

Advisory Board: SAVI
maintains an Advisory Board consisting of specialists in
the fields of sustainable viticulture – organic and
biodynamic. These experts include University Extension
specialists, vineyard owners, economic advisors, and consultants
practicing in sustainable viticulture and phytochemistry.

Lon Rombough, Grape
Breeder & Author, “The
Grape Grower – A Guide to Organic Viticulture”,
Aurora OR (Died January 30, 2012 at 62 yrs old
- we shall miss his wisdom and guidance that led us
to our successful propagation methods for our Katuah
Muscadines)

Mountain Viticulture

Vitis Vinifera (European grape cultivars) are currently grown
in large vineyard plantings in the coastal and piedmont
areas of NC. The weather is warm, humid, and low altitude
with high disease pressure. Most Vinifera that are available
for planting in the USA are not cold-hardy and thus are
not suitable for growing in the mountains of WNC. Further,
vinifera are not resistant to any of the pests, molds,
fungi, and other diseases indigenous to North America,
thus requiring stringent chemical spraying regimens to
keep them alive and producing acceptable crops. All of
the Vinifera must be grafted to wild American grape root-stock
to prevent the indigenous root louse, phyloxera, from killing
the vines. Most of the soils in the mountain counties of
NC are residual soils from 600 million years of weathering
granite. These soils tend to be low pH, high in Aluminum
ions, and be either hard-pan red clays or extremely rocky
residual soils. “Rich
soils,” those dark soils with lots of humus, tend to
occur in “bottom land” and are not particularly
good for grapes because the low lands are also where cold
air accumulates and causes frost damage to vines. The best
farm sites for grapes are on the south or southeast facing
slopes – not on the bottom of the valleys or on the
top of the mountains. The best grapes to grow are certain
Euro-American Hybrid grapes or native American grapes.

Sustainable Viticulture: When
a process is sustainable, it can be maintained indefinitely.
Sustainable food production can be maintained indefinitely
because sustainable farmers do not take more resources to
produce food than they give back. A reliance on renewable
resources - as well as on symbiotic relationships with nature
and the surrounding community - means that these farms do
not damage the environment, are humane for workers and animals,
provide a fair wage to the farmer, and support and enhance
rural life. Because sustainable farmers see nature as an
ally rather than an obstacle, they are able to produce more
wholesome food while using less fossil fuels (thus lessening
the impact on global warming), and without using any synthetic
pesticides, artificial hormones, or antibiotics. Growing
grapes in a sustainable environment is beneficial to the
farm, the community and the ultimate consumer.

Grapes can be used for making pies, preserves,
jams, jellies, juice, providing fresh table fruit, raisins,
flavored vinegars, grapeseed oils, and wine. Other value
added products derived from grapes include pigments, paper,
biomass fuel pellets, and neutraceuticals. We have documented
over 150 products that can be made from grapes.

As of January 1, 2015 there were over 760
vineyards in 18 wine-producing countries using biodynamic
viticulture, and thousands more using organic or natural
growing methods. It is a recognized fact that the overwhelming
majority of vineyards in North America are using traditional
chemical spray methods of growing wine and table grapes,
resulting in wines being sold containing residual pesticides.
More and more farms worldwide are making the transition to
sustainable viticulture growing methods. We recognize the
difficulty in dealing with such entrenched chemical methods
but each month that passes brings more and more data to the
forefront that confirm the viability of sustainable viticulture.
Lessened impact on the earth, improved health of vines, more
intense colors, and better flavors have led to superior tasting
wines. (https://www.boissetfamilyestates.com/press/FortuneBiodynamics.pdf)

The mountains of Western North Carolina represent an ideal
location for vineyards and wineries. The job
creation possibility is large and the potential for agri-tourism
income and tax revenue for the state is significant.